Mechanism for assembling and feeding screw eyes



Feb. 10, 1931. 1,791,764

MECHANISM FOR EASSEMBLING AND FEEDING .scREW EYES E. D. PRIEST Filed D60. 12. 1928 Patented Feb. 10, 1931 UNITED snares PATENT oFFicE 1 EDWARD D. PRIEST, F SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO PARKER WIRE GOODS COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA- CHUSETTS MECHANISM FOR ASSEMBLINGAND FEEDING SCREW EYES Application filed December 12, 1928. Serial No. 325,600.

This invention relates to a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes and other similar articles.

It is the object of my invention to provide improved mechanism for assembling screweyes or similar articles in an orderly series and for feeding the screw-eyes successively to a machine for .threadingthe eyes or for performing other operations thereon.

More specifically, my invention relates to mechanism for assembling screw-eyes or similar articles on a wire or rod; for advancing the screw-eyes along said rod; and for successively removing separate screw-eyes from the delivery end of said rod.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved assembling and feeding mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof;

Figs..3 and 4 are detail sectional elevations, taken along the lines 3-3 and H in Figs. 1 and 2 respectively; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional plan View, taken along the line 55 in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a frame or bed on which athreading die 11 is slidably mounted, said die being reciprocated'by a connecting rod 12 pivoted on a orankpin 13 on a disc 14, mounted on a shaft 15 and rotated from any suitable source of power.

'Parallel guide members (Fig. 3) are rigidly supported on frame members 21 and 22 (Fig; 1) and are spaced apart to permit the screw-eyes S to slide downward between the guide members. An assembling rod 25 is loosely supported between the guide members 20, and the upper end of the rod extends over the top edge of a hopper 30, mounted to rotate on avertical shaft 31 which is connected by bevel gears 32 to a horizontal shaft 38 on which a drive pulley 34 is mounted.

The extreme upper end 25 of the rod 25 is bent downward adjacent the bottom of the hopper and is also bent substantially to the curvature of the inside periphery of the lower portion of the hopper. A blade or defiector'36 is mounted in fixed position within the hopper 30 and acts to direct the screweyes S to the periphery thereof, as the hopper rotates in a clockwise direction as viewed v in Fig. 2. I

The lower end of the rod 25 abuts against a plunger 40 (Fig. 4) which extends upward in an inclined direction through an opening in a stationary block 41 secured to the frame 10. Upward movement of the rod 40 is limited by a flange 42 thereon, which engages the upper end ofan enlarged recess 43 in which the plunger is slidable. A spring 44 in the recess 43 forces, the plunger yieldingly upward. V V

V The plunger 40. holds the guide rod 25 away from the block 41 a distance approximately equal to the thickness of one of the screw-eyes on which the machine is operating.

The lower end of the plunger 40 is provided with a head 45 engaged by aforked lever 46 mounted on a fixed pivot 47 and having its opposite end portion 48extended into the pathof movement of an ejecting arm 50.

The arm50vextends upward from a bar 51, slidable transversely in the bed 10 and having aroll 52 (Fig. 2); at the opposite end thereof positioned betweenthe forked ends of a cam lever 53. The lever 53 is pivoted at 54 and is provided with a roll 55 positioned for engagement by a projection on a cam 56 mounted on the shaft 15 which actuates the threading die 11. An ejector 60 (Fig. 2) is mounted on the arm 50 and extends adjacent the lower endof the rod 25.

Having described the construction of my improved mechanism, the operation thereof is as follows: I p

The'screw-eyes are thrown loosely into the rotating hopper '30 and the fixed blade or deflector 36: forces the screw-eyes toward the periphery of the hopper as they approach the end 25 of the rod 25. A certain proportion of the screw eyes are caught by the rod end 25 and are forced along the rod 25 by the pressure of the remaining screw-eyes, rotating withthe-hopper. The screw-eyes are thus forced upward over the edge of the hop per and then slide downward along the rod 25 and between the guide members until they engage the side of the block 41 (Fig. 4). The plunger 40 projects slightly from the block tl, so that the lowermost screw-eye is supported by the plunger 40 rather than the rod 25.

Once in each revolution of the shaft 15 the threading die 11 is withdrawn, the plunger 40 is momentarily withdrawn, as indicated in Fig. 5, and the ejector 60 is simultaneously advanced, moving the lowermost screw-eye S transversely into the-path of'the threading die 11. At the same time, the ejector (SO-holds the rod 'and' the remaining screw-eyes" from downward movement until the ejector'is withdrawn and the plunger 40 is simultaneously restored to initial po- 'sition.

The rod 25 is thus held at all times at an elevation. permitting a screw-eye to be dislodged from the lower-end thereof when the plunger 40' is withdrawn.

With the larger sizes of screw-eyes, the means for withdrawing the plunger 40 may be omitted andv the plunger maybe depressed by the direct side pressure of the screw-eye thereon as the screw-eye is displaced by the ejector 60. This arrangement when available permits the actuating mechanism to be simplified and avoids the need for accurate relative timing of the movement of the parts 40 and 60.

I am thus able to assemble the screw-eyes on the-rod 25 and to move the screw-eyes-successively the entire length of the rod, while at the-same time the rod and screw-eyes are held in operative position from which the screw-eyes may be successively delivered to the threading or other mechanism. The device is extremely simple and maybe easily and cheaply manufactured, but at the same time it is entirely reliable and'eifective in use.

In the claims, the words screw-eyes are not used in limitation but are intended to include also other articles of more or less similar shape and adapted to be similarly handled.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limitedto the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims,but what I claim is i 1. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, an assembly rod, means to string screw-eyes on the upper end thereof, a support to hold said rod fromdownward sliding movement, means to' intermittently withdraw said support, andmeans to remove the lowermost screw-eye laterally from alignment with said rod when said support is withdrawn.

2. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding SCIQWrBYBS, an inclined assembly rod,

3'. The combination in" a mechanism for as-,

sembling and feeding screw-eyes asset forth claim 2, in which said. support extends in an upwardly inclined direction and abuts said assembling rod above the position of the lowermost screw-eye.

- i. The combination in a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes as set forth in claim 2, in which said removing means comprises an ejector rendered operative as said support-is withdrawn.

5-. In a mechanism forassembling and feeding screw-eyes, an assembly rod, means to position said rodloosely in a downwardly inclined direction, an abutment enga-ged'by the lowermost screw-eye on said rod, a plunger extending into said lowermostscrew-eye andabutting'the lower end of's'aid rod, means toperiodically withdraw said plunger, and means toremovethe lowermost screw-eye when said plunger is withdrawn.

6. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, an assembly rod;- means to position'said rod loosely in a downwardly inclined direction, a device engaging the lowermost end of said rod and normally pre- Venting downward sliding'movement thereof, and means to momentarily withdraw said device bya movement axially'of said rod, and means toremove the lowermost screweye laterally from alignment with said rod when said support iswithdrawn,

7. In a mechanism forassembling and feeding screw-eyes, an assembly rod, means to position said rod looselyina downwardly inclined direction, a: device engaging the lowermost end of said rod and normally preventing downward sliding movement'thereof, means to momentarily withdraw said device, and additional means to remove a screw-eye laterally from alignment with said rod and to prevent downward sliding movement of said rod when said device is withdrawn:

8; In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, a rod on which screweyes may be assembled, means to limit clownward movement of saidscrew-eyes on said rod, a support engaging the lower end-of said rod, means to periodically withdraw said support, and means to'displace laterally the lowermost screw-eyewhen said. support is withdrawn. i

9. In a mechanism for assembling" and feeding screw-eyes, a rod on which screweyes may be assembled ,means to limit' down- 1 ward movement of said screw-eyes on said rod, a support engaging the lower end of said rod, means to periodically withdraw said support, and means to displace laterally the lowermost screw-eye when said support is withdrawn and to simultaneously prevent downward movement of the remaining screw-eyes on said rod while the support is withdrawn.

in 10. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, a rod on which screweyes may be assembled, means to limit downward movement of said screw-eyes on said rod, a support engaging the lower end of said 15 rod, means to periodically withdraw said support, said support normally projecting into the lowermost screw-eye and preventing lateral displacement thereof, and means to 1 laterally displace said lowermost screw-eye 20 when said support is withdrawn. I

11. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, a rod on which screweyes may be assembled, means to limit downward movement of said screw-eyes on said rod, a support engaging the lower end of said rod, means to periodically withdraw said support, and an ejecting plate slidable adj acent said limitin means and effective to displace laterally tl le lowermost screw-eye.

3o 12. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, a rod on which screweyes may be assembled, means to limit downward movement of said screw-eyes on said rod, a support engaging the lower end of said a5 rod, means to periodically withdraw said support, and an ejecting plate slidable adjacent said limiting means and effective to displace laterally the lowermost screw-eye and to prevent downward movement of the re- 40 maining screw-eyes when said support is withdrawn.

13. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, a rod on which said screw-eyes may be assembled, a plunger 4:) abutting the lower end of said rod and preventing downward movement thereof, a spring to move said plunger upward, means to limit said upward movement, and means 7 to periodically withdraw said plunger and 50 thereby permit lateral displacement of the lowermost screw-eye assembled on said rod.

14:. In a mechanism for assembling and feeding screw-eyes, an assembly rod, means to string screw-eyes on the upper end thereof, a support to hold said rod from downward sliding movement, and means to intermittently displace successive screw-eyes latera-lly from alignment with the lower end of said rod, said support and rod being yieldingly relatively separable to permit such displacement.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

(as EDWARD D. PRIEST. 

